Material flow analysis of crt monitor, electric fan and refrigerator through the primitive e-waste dismantling in buriram province, thailand

Abstract

The great number of small-entrepreneurs for electronic waste (e-waste) dismantling in the rural community are located in the northeastern of Thailand especially in Ban Mai Chiyaphot district, Buriram province. The observational study on the amount of e-waste entry this area was conducted during February–July, 2019. The top three ranked of e-waste amount found in this area were electric fan (1400–7000 units/month), CRT monitor (100–3400 units/month) and refrigerator (30–2700 units/month), respectively. Material flow analysis was implemented to investigate the flow of valuable material such as recyclable plastic, valuable ferrous and non-ferrous metals, and non-valuable materials. The result showed that valuable material, i.e. precious metals, and recyclable plastic, could be obtained from CRT monitor, electric fan and refrigerator at 34% 94% and 84% (w/wt), respectively. The rest non-valuable materials such as glass, plywood, polyurethane foam that could not be sold in the local market would then be disposed mixed with the municipal solid waste at the open dump site. Moreover, illegally breaking of glass monitor and open burning of non-recycle plastics like polyurethane foam at this site can finally increase potential risks to the environment and human health of the local people in this area. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.